How to Organize a Clothing Closet

Sorting through a cluttered closet isn’t only frustrating, but wastes a lot of time. Toss items that you no longer wear and organize the rest to find your clothing, shoes and accessories in minutes, rather than hours. By following these simple steps, your closet can be clean and neat in no time at all.

With an organized closet, you won't have to stumble through clutter to find what you need. (Image: Kristyn Robertson)

Clear Things Up

Keep shoes and other smaller items in clear storage boxes to easily find them in your closet. If you don’t have clear boxes, take a photo of the items inside and tape it to the outside of the box to visually identify its contents.

There'll be no mystery as to what's inside of clear or well-labeled boxes. (Image: Kristyn Robertson)

Install Shelving

Purchase premade shelves and install them in your closet to create plenty of spaces to store shoes, sweaters, shirts and other items. Shelves that hang from existing closet rods provide a less permanent alternative and can be put up in minutes.

Stack clothing items and organize them by color on your new shelves. (Image: Kristyn Robertson)

Get Hooked on Organization

Install a few hooks in the closet at eye level to hang things like handbags, belts, ties, hats, scarves and even jewelry. This keeps them off of the floor, frees up shelf space and keeps the items within view to quickly pick them out.

Hooks can hold items both big and small, making excellent use of spare vertical space. (Image: Kristyn Robertson)

Color Code Clothing

Hang clothing by color to identify pieces which you can match at a glance. You can also separate each section of your closet by the type of clothing and then sort by color within that space.

Let There Be Light

Illuminate your closet with a stylish chandelier or decorative light fixture. Not only will this become the focal point of the space but it will also allow you to completely see what’s inside the closet during the day or night.

Ample lighting lets you see what's inside your closet without resorting to using a flashlight. (Image: Kristyn Robertson)

Add Shoe Storage

If you have limited shelf space in your closet, you can hang a shoe organizer from the door of the closet to make the most of your small space and keep your shoes off of the floor. The shoe pockets also double as storage for smaller items like jewelry and sunglasses.

Don't limit your shoe rack to shoes only -- use the pockets to store small items like belts and jewelry. (Image: Kristyn Robertson)

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Have a Hamper Handy

Put a hamper in your closet to quickly put away dirty clothes and keep them out of sight until laundry day. You can also keep clothing to be washed in smaller stackable baskets, sorted by color, for easy transport to the washing machine.

Use Vertical Space

Make the most of your closet space by installing closet rods or shelves all the way up to the ceiling. Store the items that you don’t use as frequently on these upper shelves or rods and keep a foldable step-stool handy to reach them.

Fill shelves with items right up to the ceiling to maximize your closet storage. (Image: Kristyn Robertson)

Multitask With Stored Items

Use bulky items like luggage to store infrequently-used or out-of-season clothing. This way, the luggage won’t just take up useful closet space while not in use and will instead double as a storage option for you to use.

Match Your Hangers

Replace your haphazard collection of hangers with one type of uniform style to hang all of your garments at the same level. It’s an easy and inexpensive way to immediately make your closet look neat and tidy.

No wire hangers ever -- use sturdy, uniform hangers to support the weight of your clothing. (Image: Kristyn Robertson)